Let’s learn from police shooting tragedy

To the editor:

Being a regular shopper at the Summerlin Costco, I have been reading and watching the news reports concerning last weekend's deadly police shooting there. I have some thoughts and some questions.

-- Why are the eyewitness accounts so varied?

-- Why would a shopper need to take two concealed guns into a warehouse store?

-- Because the suspect is a West Point graduate, has a master's degree and is a successful salesman, is he immune from going berserk or using poor judgment?

-- The suspect's friends and family state that he was just showing the police his weapon. How do they know? They were not there.

-- Why would three policemen fire on someone simultaneously for no reason?

-- The suspect had a concealed weapons permit. Did he receive training on what to do or say when being stopped by a police officer?

I don't know who is right in the case because I was not there and did not witness anything. I am pretty sure there is surveillance video.

I am sorry for the suspect's family and for the police officers who shot him.

These cases are never easy, and no one wins. When there are tragedies, there are lessons to be learned, and I think the lesson to be learned here and in some other recent cases is to do what you are told when confronted by a police officer.

Nancy Malone

Las Vegas

Good work

To the editor:

I want to express my gratitude to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. They work day in and day out among mainly the bad element that has accumulated in our city. In regard to the Saturday afternoon shooting at the Summerlin Costco, thank you so much for responding to the call so quickly -- fortunately, no one was hurt except the obviously disturbed instigator.

If we check our criminal history, there have been other incidents here in Las Vegas in which many innocent people have been killed by irate people with guns. This did not happen on Saturday.

I feel very sorry for Erik Scott's girlfriend and family; it is sad to see a loved one lose control. Mr. Scott was highly educated and well-trained with firearms. He took the concealed weapons class but disregarded all that was taught.

We do not know what set him off, but that is not the fault of the police. They have only a small window to end a situation with just the information given them. I appreciate all that they do.

Wendy Cherry

Las Vegas

Washington Harry

To the editor:

Brian Greenspun's column in Sunday's Las Vegas Sun must have been a joke. He wrote a diatribe against Review-Journal Publisher Sherman Frederick over his lack of love for Sen. Harry Reid, basically calling Mr. Frederick a liar for accurately quoting Sen. Reid.

But Sen. Reid did say, "The war is lost." There is no need for embellishment. While our brave fighting men were in the field destroying the enemy, Sen. Reid told the world we had lost the conflict. It's hard to find any patriotism there.

But then, when you are an apologist for someone, it is hard to find fault -- like the many people who write letters to the editor telling us not to vote out Sen. Reid. They seem to have battered wife syndrome. "Yeah, he beats me, but he doesn't mean to ... and he promised he won't do it again."

I also think Mr. Greenspun has some gall attacking the editor of a profitable newspaper when the rag he publishes has to be subsidized (like most liberal ideas) by forcing us to accept it when purchasing a real newspaper. If the Sun had to make it on its merits, it would be out of business in a week.

As for Mr. Greenspun's buddy, Harry Reid, if he loses the election, I'll bet the local boy -- son of a hard-rock miner -- puts his house in Searchlight up for sale and never sets foot in Nevada again. His real home is in Washington, D.C.

Mike Murphy

Pahrump

Small business

To the editor:

I keep hearing candidates such as Sharron Angle and Brian Sandoval say that they favor a more "business friendly" environment. Yet many of the policies they espouse are exactly the reason my business has struggled -- a lack of regulations in banking and finance. Or a lack of regulations regarding the ability to move jobs without penalty wherever environmental regulations and labor laws are weakest, and many others.

To me this is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue, but an issue of what is fundamentally and morally right. I don't want a handout, just a level playing field. I hear nothing from Ms. Angle or Mr. Sandoval that will supply that.

Frank Beaty

Las Vegas

Reid election

To the editor:

I am a middle-of-the road Democrat who will not vote for Harry Reid. Neither will I vote for Sharron Angle.

I can't believe that the Republicans who had the best chance of ousting Harry Reid could possibly have voted for Sharron Angle to represent them.

It was very obvious in the primary that Sen. Reid did not want to run against Sue Lowden by all the ads he took out against her.

So wake up and smell the roses, Republicans. Sharron Angle is a bust. The independents and people like me who don't want Harry are going to have to suffer for another term.

By the way, for Harry Reid lovers, 400 new jobs does not solve the unemployment problem.

Wayne Stroud

Las Vegas